


Embalmed

by BettyHT



Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 10:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16324199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: The family wonders what is going on with Adam. They are alternately worried,  wondering, and upset with him. There are many possibilities but no one suspects the real reason for his behavior until it is nearly too late.  He's going to need his family to survive this mess.





	Embalmed

Embalmed

Chapter 1

Riding home from Virginia City, Hoss wasn't sure how to deliver the news to Adam. When he arrived in the yard and saw his older brother, he still had not decided how to break the news to him. He got his attention and began to talk.

"Adam, I saw Sheriff Coffee when I was in town. He had some news he said I should give ya, but I don't know as how to tell it to ya. I mean ya might like some of it and ya might not like being told about it though. And ya might not like even knowing the rest of it, and probably won't like hearing it at all but Roy said you ought to know cause people are likely to talk. He figured you'd want to be ready for it all."

Standing at the forge with sweat still dripping from his face and shining on his arms and chest, Adam had paused with the piece of metal he was attempting to hammer into a hinge for a corral gate to listen to his brother. However, the whole of what Hoss had said so far had amounted to nothing. It was exasperating.

"I stopped working for that? Now tell me something or let me get back to work."

"All right, but remember later that you was the one forced me to say all this to you." Adam's raised right eyebrow told Hoss it was time to tell and that the time to delay was over. "Bill Enders up and got himself kilt in prison. He got in some kind of feud or some kind with some other prisoners. He got in some nasty fights, and then one of 'em knifed him in the neck when nobody was around. He died pretty fast. Now Mary was thinking that someday he'd get paroled. When she got news he was dead, she up and kilt herself. They're both dead, and they're both gonna be buried in Mary's family's plot in the town cemetery. Her body is being shipped here and he's being sent over from Carson City. They'll wait 'til both are here and then have a funeral and burial. There, that's all of it."

"Thank you for telling me. Now, I have a lot of work to do."

"That's it? Ya ain't got nothing more ta say?"

"What could I say that would matter? I can't change anything that happened. Bill made his decisions, and that put Mary in a very difficult position."

"Ya, I guess so."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Some folks have always said that if you hadn't made such a big deal about it, Mary would not have had to move away and live with her sister and her sister's husband."

"You would have wanted me to let Bill Enders get away with murder?"

"No, I know that woulda been wrong. I just hated to see Mary get punished too."

"It was bad luck for her. Life is all about luck sometimes. It was her bad luck to choose Bill to marry when she had other choices."

"You think life is luck. Here I thought you figured hard work and learning was what made your life what it is."

"To some extent, that's true, but what if that arrow at Ash Hollow was aimed at us instead of Ma? What if when we got sick or shot, we got an infection or fever that we couldn't recover from? What if you didn't see me walking out there in that desert? All the hard work and education you have doesn't matter sometimes. It's luck."

"When ya say it like that, it does make sense."

About to get back to work, Adam had one thought. "Was there any specific reason why Roy thought I should know all the details about the funeral?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to say that part. He wonders ifn ya wanted to see the bodies. Seems Roy isn't convinced this is all the way it oughta be. He wants to look in them coffins to make sure they're really in there. Says he's been fooled enough by those two that he don't want to take no chances. Thought you might like to be the other witness."

A few days later, Roy walked with Adam to the undertaker's office. "I gotta apologize again for ever believing what Mary Enders told me that time about you. I shoulda known better. I know you and I know you would never force yourself on a woman. She was all teary eyed and such, and I let that get the better of me. My heart went out to her and left my common sense sitting idle."

"It's all right, Roy. I know your first reaction is to protect women. We all feel that way out here. If a woman cries out in need, we run to help. It's natural."

"I still shoulda known better. I know I've apologized before for what I said and how I was thinking, but I guess there ain't no amount of apologizing to make up for doing that to a friend."

"That's it. We're friends. I understand. We're not perfect. We all make mistakes."

"You didn't make one back then."

"I've made my share of them though. I would hate to be judged on my mistakes alone."

"Well, I guess that's true of all of us. Thank you, then. Now let's get inside and make sure nobody done made a mistake on this. When they said they was both dead, I don't know, but the hair on the back of my neck stood up like something wasn't right about it all."

"I know the feeling. Yes, let's take a look. Then we'll know."

Inside the undertaker's office, they asked to see the bodies. Jasper Willis informed them that he was no longer an undertaker but wanted to be called a mortician.

"I got a new sign coming too. It doesn't sound so awful as undertaker." Opening the door to one of the back rooms, he ushered them in to where the two coffins had been delivered. He had earlier pried both open because Roy had said they would be by to take a look to verify the identities of both. "They spent some fine money to be embalmed. This is some of the finest work I've ever seen. She's especially well done. With the makeup and everything, she almost looks like she's sleeping. Of course, he died violently in prison, and you can't cover all of that up so he looks a mite worse."

"What's that smell?"

There was a very strong chemical odor in the room and Roy wrinkled his nose at the strong odor even as he turned to Jasper wondering what it was.

"It's formaldehyde. It's expensive to get way out here. It does a fine job though at preserving a body. It's much better than the chemicals that we were using. It's only been available in this country a very short time. I haven't had a chance to get any, but someone obviously paid a lot of money to have these bodies embalmed that way."

Even with the makeup, the damage to Bill Enders could still be seen even with his collar tucked up as close to his chin as possible, and the makeup couldn't hide all the damage fighting had left on his face. However, Mary had killed herself with poison and showed no ill effects except of course being dead. If a dead person could be beautiful, that was Mary. Even her hair and her dress were beautiful. Someone had spent a great deal of money to make her look her best before burial. Roy and Adam looked at each other and agreed. These two were in fact deceased. There was no mistaking the final fate of Bill and Mary Enders. They told Jasper to seal up the coffins again. He said that Mary had some relatives who had asked if they could come in to view the bodies too so he wouldn't do that until after they left.

"That's fine, Jasper. You go ahead and do whatever it is that you have to do. All we wanted to do is done."

Roy told Jasper that he would be at the funeral and the internment so he wanted to know the time. Jasper told him. That was it for Roy and Adam. Their business was done.

Outside the office, Roy bid Adam farewell with words meant to be soothing, but somehow Adam still felt uneasy. "Well, that closes that book. The final chapter's been written, ain't it? The whole sorry mess is finally done."

"I don't know, Roy. I still have that uneasy feeling that I had when I first heard about them dying."

"Now I wish ya hadn't said that 'cause I'm still feeling the same way. I feel like someone is watching over my shoulder or something like that, but when I look around, no one's there."

"I've had that feeling too. I guess it has to do with thinking about death and dying. I'll see you, Roy." With that, Adam mounted up on Sport to begin the ride home. In the hotel, a curtain was drawn back and dark eyes watched him ride from town. On the road, Adam felt that he was being followed. He rode off the road into a grove of trees and a man rode up and then past him continuing along the road. Adam rode out to follow but he never turned back or stopped. Upon arriving at the ranch, Adam found the man in conversation with Hoss and Joe apparently looking for work. They were shorthanded so the man was hired. Adam berated himself for being so suspicious and edgy, but somehow the feeling still didn't go away.

The following day, Joe brought the mail home and seemed reluctant to hand a letter to Adam.

"Joe, just give it to me if it's addressed to me."

"It is, but Adam, it says it's from Mary Enders. Now how could a dead woman send you a letter?"

"Someone probably found it in her things and posted it. Let me read it."

As Adam read the letter, his family noted his demeanor changed. Ben was concerned.

"Son, what did she say in that letter? Now, we all know she was distraught. She was distraught enough to kill herself. Keep that in mind as you think about anything she may have written to you."

"She says that everything that happened is my fault. If I had only left things alone, everything would have been fine. She repeats Bill's defense from his trial that he never meant to shoot Toby much less kill him but only reacted because Toby shot at him, and he never expected him to do that. She said nothing I did ever brought Toby back, but it took away Bill's life and that of Bill's partner who of course Bill claims died in an accident. Then she says her life was ruined, and she had to go live with her sister and her sister's husband. She says she was shamed and humiliated, and married to a prisoner so she had no future."

"Son, it's all over. Don't torture yourself with doubts and recriminations. You did what was right and got justice."

"But at what cost? I had no idea Mary had suffered so because of what happened to Bill. I thought she was making a new life for herself. I never knew she was so unhappy and bitter."

"She may have been bitter and unhappy, but what could you have done about that if you had known? Apparently, she was unwilling to divorce him or she would have done that. Any judge would have granted it under the circumstances. She could have had a better life. She chose not to do that. You cannot be held responsible for her choices."

"She held me responsible. She died blaming me. The date on that letter puts it about the time she killed herself. It could even have been the same day. She hated me so much that she delayed her suicide to tell me how much." Adam put his head down and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I need to go up to my room to rest a bit. I wasn't feeling the best after working in the sun, and I feel worse now."

"That's a good idea. Try not to dwell on this."

Except Adam felt even worse later. He retched what little he had eaten into his chamber pot, and after rinsing his mouth with water, couldn't sleep well feeling achy. In the morning, he mainly had coffee and tried some toast. Ben was concerned.

"Adam, if you're feeling sick, maybe you ought to stay home today."

"I'm fine. It's probably just the news I got yesterday that has my stomach roiled a bit. I'll be all right when I get out in the fresh air."

As he worked that morning, he was feeling better too until after a couple of hours when he took a break and drank a lot from his canteen. He decided that perhaps he had drunk too much water at once because he once again was nauseated and retched after a short time. He was unable to do much work the rest of the day. When his brothers came by to ride home with him, they remarked on how little he had accomplished. He was short with them basically telling them to mind their own business. It was a quiet ride home. He didn't mind too much as he had a pounding headache.

The Ride on Bonanza: Because he didn't see the gunman's face, witness Adam Cartwright can't convince his family and the sheriff of his certainty that good friend, Bill Enders, was one of the hooded men responsible for robbing a way station and killing the attendant.

Chapter 2

In spite of his protests, the next day, Ben insisted that Adam ought to stay around the house telling him he didn't look well. Although Joe and Hoss tried to make light of it, they agreed that their older brother was looking rather pale.

"Yeah, and for you ta look pale takes some doing seeing as how you're a might darker than the two of us. I think maybe you need to rest up and get over whatever it is you got so the rest of us don't get it."

"I'm fine." Adam didn't like being coddled and being the center of attention because of his health.

They were still at the breakfast table, and Ben proved he had been paying attention. "If you're feeling fine, you'll eat some of what's on your plate instead of pushing it around making it look like you've eaten some of it."

Caught out in one of his tried and true scams, Adam had no choice. Unable to tolerate the fried eggs and thick slices of bacon, he had eaten only toast and had some coffee. "All right, I'll work at home today."

"Thank you. I could use some help with those timber contracts. I need to get them in the mail soon, and I would like to take them to town later today."

That was a signal for Hoss and Joe to leave so they did. Adam was quiet and Ben waited to see if he would say anything. After Hop Sing cleared the table leaving only coffee, Adam looked at his father.

"Thank you."

He didn't need to say he had trouble asking for help when he needed it or that he had trouble admitting he was ill. His father knew. The thank you acknowledged both, and the smile he got from his father was all he expected in return. They worked together for the morning and finished the contracts by eleven. Pleased, Ben thanked his son and saddled up his horse to ride to town. Feeling better, Adam decided to get some work done. He fired up the forge and set out some work to do planning to make some hinges for the corral gate and then work on other items they needed. He used the bucket for water to cool the metal as he finished so he got his canteen and filled it with water to drink. As he worked, the nausea and dizziness returned. Although he tried to fight it, it got progressively worse. When he heard his father returning, he meant to stop, turn, and greet his father. Instead, he tried to turn, lost his balance, and fell against the forge toppling it as well as the bucket of water luckily which doused the coals. Ben rushed to his side and helped him to stand.

"Tarnation, what happened?"

"I don't know. I guess I tripped and fell against the forge."

"I'll help you inside. You look ill again."

When Hoss and Joe returned later, they wondered at the mess. Ben told them what he knew, and they cleaned up the area. Unfortunately, they also teased Adam about it at dinner when he was once again not eating much. He excused himself and went up to his room. Ben was unhappy.

"He's ill. You could have been more understanding."

"Aw, Pa, he's only got hisself a little bit of a stomach upset. It don't hardly count as being ill. Me and Joe think he jest don't want ta work on fence building. Ya know how much he hates it."

"No, he doesn't shirk his responsibilities like that. He's sick."

Seeing the looks that his younger sons gave each other, Ben knew they didn't believe it. He wondered too at Adam's odd symptoms that seemed to come and go. In the morning, Adam seemed fine again. Ben told him to drive the wagon with the fencing supplies to bring the crews what they needed that day. The morning went well except for some teasing that Adam received for getting such an easy job for the day. In the afternoon, after having lunch with the crew, things didn't go well at all. The headache was back and Adam found that he involuntarily slowed the team when driving the wagon because the bouncing along on the wagon seat aggravated the pounding in his head. He was late bringing supplies which meant that the men especially Hoss and Joe complained because it meant they would be working later to get the section of fence done that had been assigned for completion that day. It was bickering about the delays that drew Ben's attention later that day.

"All you had to do was sit on a wagon and drive it. How hard could that be?" Hoss was perturbed because as usual he got to dig a lot of post holes and he was tired. Hoping to at least get home a bit early, he got the opposite instead.

"I had to load the wagon and unload it too."

"Oh, yeah, and should we remind you that you forgot to load some of what we needed and more than once!" Joe knew if he had done that, he would have heard about it from Adam.

"I was doing the best I could do."

"What's going on here?" Ben walked into the stable to see his younger sons glaring at his eldest. Although Adam had been driving the wagon, his shirt was soaked with sweat and his face was flushed. When Ben interrupted, he turned and walked to the house ignoring all questions directed at him. Ben turned back to Hoss and Joe. "What happened?"

"Pa, the morning went all right, but this afternoon, he was late delivering the posts and wire, and he forgot the nails we needed. He was late on the second trip too, and then spilled the nails when he was unloading them. It's not much fun trying to pick nails up out of long grass."

"That doesn't sound much like your brother." Hoss and Joe frowned because their father was correct. They had been so frustrated and upset with the delays, they hadn't been thinking about that. "He looked ill again too. Did he say anything?"

"No, he seemed fine at lunch and ate what we ate."

"I think I need to find out what is going on with him." Ben walked to the house then worried about Adam.

The new stablehand Hoss had hired came in then and asked if he could take care of their horses for them as they had had a long day. "I know you normally would take care of your horses before yourselves, but every now and then, you could let me do it so the horses get to know me better. That way when I need to put on a new shoe or saddle them up, they'll be more comfortable with me."

"Thank you, Bob. That's right smart and kind too."

Hoss was pleased with the new hire as was Joe. Arriving with a letter of recommendation, he was smart and worked well with the horses. He had already gotten the stable and outbuildings cleaned up and looking better, but was inspecting all of the harness and tack setting aside those things which needed repair or refurbishing. He was up early to work and got on well with the other men. Joe smiled as they walked to the house.

"Wish Adam could be more like him."

"Yeah, but maybe he's real sick like Pa says."

"We'll find out tomorrow if he's suddenly healthy when it's time to go to the dance."

On Saturday, the way things worked out, Hoss began to wonder if Joe's suspicions could possibly be correct. They went out to finish up the work on the fencing and Adam stayed to work on the ledgers with their father. He seemed fine at lunch and announced he would be going to the dance with them. Noting the triumphant smirk he got from Joe who assumed he was correct in his reasoning, Hoss had to ask a question.

"You shur you want ta go to the dance after the way you ben feeling the last few days?"

"I'm fine."

The fire behind Adam's simple statement meant there was no more discussion of that issue, but it wasn't done. The brothers rode together to the dance, but there wasn't the usual conversation that they would have on such a ride. At the dance, Adam felt fine at first and danced with several ladies. Joe zeroed in on a new arrival in town. He spent most of the night with her when she seemed to find his company agreeable. Hoss walked over to talk to Adam at one point.

"You seen Joe lately?"

"I think I saw him head outside with the lady he was with."

"She's a pretty thing, ain't she?"

"She seems familiar."

"I don't know how she could be. She's new in town."

With a frown, Adam downed the punch he had gotten from Joe earlier. He gotten and his new lady friend had gotten some at the refreshment table, and he had handed one to Adam too as they walked by him. It was the second time that evening they had done that. After setting it down to dance, Adam had returned and drank it as he talked with Hoss. Feeling very warm after dancing, he decided to go outside to cool down a bit.

"You all right? You're lookin' a bit peaked?"

"I'm fine!"

Tired of being questioned about his health, Adam wasn't about to admit how he actually felt. His head was pounding and he was feeling dizzy. All of that made him hope he could get outside before he retched because that was what he thought he might do next. Leaning against a tree after doing just that, he felt a hand on his arm.

"Here, I thought you might need this."

As he often was, Hoss was there to help out. He offered a cup of water that Adam used to rinse out his mouth before pouring the rest over his head. He pulled his handkerchief and wiped his mouth and face.

"You're sick."

"Hoss, I don't know what's going on. I felt fine and then I got sick again."

"You stay here. I'll get Joe so we kin head on home."

"He's not going to like that."

"He'll understand."

At first he didn't, but when he saw Adam, he did. "We need to get you home. You look terrible."

"Thank you, I needed that."

"What happened? You looked fine in the dance last I saw you."

"I don't know. Suddenly, it hit again and I was sick. I was fine, and then I was sick."

"Me and Hoss will get you home."

Except it wasn't as easy as Joe thought it would be. As soon as Adam stepped away from the tree, the dizziness assailed him again and nearly caused him to fall. Hoss stepped in to steady him and Joe moved to his other side. Having experienced something like it after a few too many beers, both Hoss and Joe knew what to do. They told him to close his eyes, keep his head down, put his arms around their shoulders, and let them do the work. That worked fine, but surprised both of them as they discovered how much thinner their older brother was. He clearly had lost weight with these bouts of illness and not eating as a result. More than anything else, it got them thinking that the situation was serious. Luckily, Adam didn't have to do much with Sport who followed the other horses lead without Adam doing much of anything except hanging on. The ride home was slower than normal so they arrived home about the same time as they would normally. They helped Adam into the house before taking care of their horses which more than anything let their father know how serious the situation was.

"He's all right now, Pa, but we need to get him into his bed. He's exhausted. We'll tell ya all 'bout it after we do that."

With Ben's help, it didn't take long to get Adam into his bed nor did it take long for his eyes to close. They left the room and pulled the door closed.

"Now, what happened?" It didn't take long for Ben to hear the simple story. "That's it. I'm going to make sure he sees Paul. We need to know what's wrong."

"He ain't a gonna like that at all, Pa."

"He's not getting a choice on this one."

The next morning, Hoss' prediction proved true. "Maybe it was the punch I got from Joe and Martha."

"No one else got sick from the punch, and you didn't have punch all those other times you got sick."

With no other argument to offer, Adam was reduced to sitting and fuming. However, the rest of what he had said permeated Ben's thought processes.

"Who's Martha?"

Seeing Joe squirm a bit, Hoss spoke first. "Ah, she's a right purty little gal who's new in town and Joe's courtin' her."

"I'm not courting her. I only danced with her last night. And then I had to leave early. She probably found someone else. Besides, she's not really new in town. She said she grew up here but moved away when she was young. Her family went to Carson City, and then she moved again."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"Martha Taylor."

"What was her maiden name?"

"I can't remember exactly. It was something like Ludens."

"Lukens?" Adam was shocked.

"Yes, that's it."

"That's why she's familiar. She's Mary Enders' younger sister. That's why she's in town. She's here because of the funeral."

"Well, that explains something else. She seemed to know who you were and asked a lot of questions about you. I mean, she asked about the whole family, but it seemed there were a lot more questions about you than anyone else."

As the family thought about Martha, in the kitchen, Hop Sing wondered if she could somehow be the one who was poisoning Adam because that was what he believed was happening. He didn't want to say anything to the family yet because he had not discovered any proof nor even any evidence, but the way Adam got sick seemed very suspicious to him and consistent with being poisoned. The big question though was how it was being done. Without an idea of how that was being accomplished, his theory was only words. He knew he needed more.

Chapter 3

On Sunday, the family had several discussions. One was centered on the idea that Adam should see Doctor Martin, but that was one which he resisted. HIs side was bolstered by Hop Sing's intervention with the theory that Adam was being poisoned. The more that was examined, the more that it made sense. That brought up the second idea that Adam shouldn't probably go anywhere or work alone. It was when he was away from his family that he got sick. Hop Sing had pointed that out to them. The other main discussion put Adam and Joe at odds with Ben and Hoss unsure of what position to take. They reached no conclusion when Adam stormed from the house in frustration. Hoss was going to follow when Joe grabbed his arm. After taking a deep breath, Joe explained why he ought to be the one to go.

"It's between us. We need to clear the air. I've got an idea and with the two of us, maybe we can work out a plan. You do know how our older brother likes a plan."

So, it was Joe who walked outside to find Adam leaning against the corral fence but clearly still agitated by the conversation inside. Standing next to Adam, Joe looked up at the sky until Adam couldn't help himself and looked up too. With a smile, Joe started talking.

"Clouds like that mean warmer weather is on the way."

"That could mean storms too. Warm winds always seem to blow down just before the big storms hit."

"Yes, but storms bring needed rain. Storms can clear the air and make everything smell fresh again. Kinda like you and me. You think we'll ever stop having these arguments, Adam?"

"Nope, hot air and cold air collide and storms happen. It's the natural way of things."

"Hot air or cold air: which one of those is me?"

"Joe, you know that answer already."

"Are we gonna argue about that too?"

"Nope."

"Good, because I've got an idea about Martha too." Joe noted how Adam stiffened but that he was listening. "If she's behind this, it would be a good idea to know where she is and what she might be doing. We would have a better idea of that if I was seeing her. If she's no part of this, that would be best shown too by me seeing her and noting what she isn't doing." Joe appreciated that Adam didn't respond immediately but thought about what he had said. When he did respond, it wasn't at all what Joe expected.

"It could be dangerous for you if she is behind this."

"I should be careful then too."

"Let's go inside and talk with Pa and Hoss to tell them the plan."

"Yeah, we'll surprise them."

Once the two were back inside to explain what they had discussed, the four of them with Hop Sing began to consider the ways in which Adam might be being poisoned. They couldn't determine what it might be so they decided to watch closely to see if they could discover something being done. Hop Sing had one observation that made them pay attention.

"New man around all time. Watch him most close."

Hoss thought back and was the first to agree with Hop Sing. "I like Bob a lot and he shur works real well. He's helpful and never complains 'bout nothing. But thinking back, Adam wasn't sick until Bob came. If any of the hands had a chance to poison Adam some way, being 'round here all the time like a stablehand would be the handiest place to be."

"Did you check out that letter of recommendation he brought?" Ben was getting suspicious too.

"Nah, it looked real good and was on that fancy paper Don Luis uses. Maybe I oughta send a wire though jest to be sure."

"So, we have a plan. We all watch to see if anything unusual happens and we will watch Bob very closely. Joe will keep an eye on Martha, and Hoss will check out Bob's letter of recommendation. And Adam will not work alone nor go anywhere alone."

With a frown, Adam accepted that last part knowing it was the sensible thing to do but bristling at it anyway. His reaction made the others smile. Ben remembered how he had often gotten Adam out of those moods when he was younger. Often he had told him to tell a tall tale to his younger brothers. Good at inventing stories, Adam would first concentrate on creating a story and then in telling it making him forget all about whatever was bothering him so much. Adam saw his father smiling and asked him what made him smile.

"I hope it isn't the prospect of me being poisoned and no longer here to irritate you with endless ideas of how to change things."

"No, I was remembering how you used to enjoy story-telling. I remember one about Thor."

"Yes, I remember that one. It was short but Hoss and Joe both liked it. I should have taken more time to fill it out with details but they were impatient for the story.

"C'mon, Adam. You must have a story by now." Hoss always wanted to hear another Adam story except perhaps at Halloween when his older brother got a bit carried away with the spookiness.

"I have but it needs more work."

"No, tell it now. We're ready now. Aren't we ready, Hoss?"

Unable to resist his brothers' pleas, Adam told the short tale. "All right, here goes: Thor was a lumberjack who cut trees and split the logs for this house all by himself. With one swing of his axe on most trees and two swings on the biggest, he cut the trees down off the mountains about forty miles from here. Then he laid the trees down in a line to trim them with one swipe of the axe down one side and another down the other. When that was done, he tied all the trees together in two big bundles and hauled them here. Only took him two days with the big ox he had. I swear it was at least ten feet tall." Hoss and Joe were mesmerized, but Ben not so much.

"Adam, ten feet tall?"

"That's why they call them tall tales, Pa."

"They don't always have to be quite so tall."

"That's what Thor said about the trees!"

Hoss and Little Joe began laughing hysterically and drew in Adam and their father too.

Ben wished there could be a moment like that now. It was as if Adam read his mind. With a wink at his father, Adam began a story more suited to adults but had his brothers' attention immediately.

"I heard a story from Roy about a tough looking cowboy in town the other day. He went to the saloon last Friday night when so many hands were in there having a good time. After he had a few drinks, he walked outside and found his horse was gone. He stomped back in and drew his pistol, fired a shot into the ceiling, and twirled it around a few times before he slammed it back into his holster. Then he looked around at everyone there. 'Where's my horse or do I have to make happen what happened in Hangtown when some funny boys thought to play that kind of joke on me?' A couple of cowboys told him not to get too upset and they would go get his horse. Once the horse was back, he mounted up to leave. Cosmo had stepped outside with a few of the others. He asked the cowboy what happened in Hangtown. 'I had to walk twenty miles to the next town.' Then he kicked his horse into a gallop."

Hoss started laughing so hard he nearly fell off his chair and Joe giggled as much at the story as at Hoss. Ben chuckled at his sons relaxing himself as he heard the laughter. When the chuckles subsided, he thanked Adam.

"It was only a variation on an old joke. I didn't have time to think of an original one."

"That's all right. It worked out very well."

"You betcha it did, older brother. Ya got any more of them old ones? It sure felt good to laugh."

For the next half hour, Adam entertained his family with old jokes he could remember embellishing them as he was prone to do. It helped to dissipate the tension of the earlier discussions though none of them forgot the topics they had talked about that afternoon. At least by that evening, the atmosphere in the house was relaxed and all got a good night's sleep.

At breakfast, Hop Sing served large portions of food to Adam who at first thought he was getting Hoss' plate until he saw Hoss get even larger portions. When he complained, his father had a simple explanation.

"He's concerned about the weight you've lost so he's trying to help you gain it back."

"I don't need to do it in one day. If I eat this much, I won't be able to do anything at all today."

"Do your best. It will make him feel better."

Accepting that what his father said was true, Adam ate as much as he could without feeling uncomfortable. Hop Sing seemed pleased when he came out to clear away the dishes. Lingering at the table savoring an extra cup of coffee, Adam let the heavy meal settle.

"I thought you and Joe could go to town for supplies for the line cabins. We need to resupply them and make any necessary repairs."

"Joe may not like making that trip to the line cabins. He may want to be closer to town for chances to see Martha."

"This morning, you don't seem so negative about her."

"The more I think about it, the less I think she's involved. I can't see any reason for it except revenge, and this is a rather complex plan for someone so young. This smacks of someone with a deeper grudge and greater experience as well as a deeper evil in their soul."

"You don't think Joe needs to watch her then?"

"Oh, no, I still think he should keep an eye on her. Because something is unlikely doesn't mean it isn't true."

"What I was thinking was that Joe could make the trip to town with you, and then Hoss could go with you to resupply the line cabins."

"Resupply is usually a one-man job. The men are going to wonder what's going on."

"If you load up with equipment to do some repairs, they won't question it. I don't want you gone off to do something like that by yourself. You need to have someone watching your back at all times."

"You think someone would try to get at me on the Ponderosa?"

"I think they managed to poison you here right under our noses."

"That still makes me worry. I don't know how they did it, and how no one else was poisoned."

The trip to town was uneventful. At the general store, Adam was inside with the long list of supplies they needed when Joe saw Martha outside. He told Adam not to go anywhere, and he went outside to talk with her. Soon, he had volunteered to show her where the newest restaurant in town was and looked back to see that Adam was still in the store.

"Are you worried about your brother for some reason?"

"No, not really. I was only checking to see where he was and if he was done with the list. He isn't so I have time to walk with you."

Although Martha suspected he wasn't being completely honest with her, she couldn't think of a reason why he would do that. They had a pleasant walk and talked only about the town mostly. She had a few questions about things that had changed so much since she had been there, but not many letting Joe do most of the talking. When Joe got her to the restaurant, he introduced her to the owner and asked her if he could see her again soon.

"Soon would be nice. I do enjoy your company."

"I'm not sure when I can get away. Adam and Hoss are going to be gone resupplying the line cabins so I'll have more work to do at home, but I'll find a way to get to town to see you."

With smiles, they parted, and Joe headed back to the store to see if Adam was ready to head back home. When he got there, Adam was gone. In a slight panic, he asked the storekeeper where his brother had gone.

"I don't know. We talked about what was on the list, and then I started to get all this together. I didn't pay attention to where he went."

Rushing from the store, Joe nearly collided with Roy and Adam who were walking back from Roy's office. Between them, they managed to grab hold of Joe and prevent all three of them from tumbling into the street.

"Whoa, Joe, where's the fire?"

"Where have you been? You aren't supposed to go anywhere alone!"

"I wasn't alone. I was with Roy, and keep your voice down so everyone in town doesn't start talking about what's going on with us."

"I'm sorry, Joe. I had checked on a few things and wanted to talk privately with Adam. He'll explain to you on the way home. I didn't mean ta worry ya."

"It's all right, Roy. I guess I was on edge a bit with what's been going on."

After Roy left, Joe helped Adam load the supplies in the wagon. Although anxious to know what Roy had told Adam, he instead talked about Martha or talked about ordinary things until they were out of town. Then he wanted to know what Adam had learned.

"Mary had some kind of disease of her brain. Roy doesn't think I should worry too much about that letter I got. Apparently, Mary wasn't healthy. She wasn't insane, but she wasn't sane either. She was kept in a bedroom at her sister's home away from prying eyes until she died. She did kill herself when she found out that Bill had been killed, but she wouldn't likely have lived that much longer. Now that's tragic, but the interesting part is what happened next. Someone paid for her to be embalmed using the most modern techniques available. They paid for Bill's embalming too even though that is almost unheard of for a prisoner. Then they paid for both bodies to be transported to Virginia City to be buried side-by-side. All of the payments were in cash delivered by a courier. Whoever did it didn't want to be known."

"Someone paid a lot of money for us to think that Martha was behind this."

"Yes, it appears that way. The real question is who did that and why. We also have to wonder if Martha knows who this person is and why they're doing this."

"Maybe I should ask her."

Surprised, Adam looked at Joe and pursed his lips as he thought about what his younger brother had said. He rather liked the idea. It would certainly surprise her if she was part of this and might make her admit something or slip up. If she was innocent, that should be apparent too especially to someone like Joe who would be looking for clues and telltale signs. He nodded in agreement and got a grin in return.

Chapter 4

On Tuesday, Hoss and Adam loaded up a wagon and left to begin the resupply and repair of the line cabins. Hoss wasn't home to receive the strange reply to his wire to Don Luis. Ben read the wire and then discussed it with Joe who was equally mystified.

"He says he did write a general letter of recommendation for Bob Tracy. However, he says that isn't what is important and is sending the more significant material in an envelope which we should receive soon."

"What could be more important than a letter of recommendation?"

"I guess we'll have to wait for the envelope to arrive."

"I hope it gets here soon."

"Joe, I know you have a lot of work to do here, but I think that talk with Martha should take some priority. Find the time to go see her as soon as you can."

"Pa, I was thinking the same thing."

By Friday, they were having a much more involved discussion that worried them far more. The envelope from Don Luis had arrived and Joe had a long talk with Martha. Joe had managed to get to town on Thursday, picked up the mail, and stopped at the hotel to find that Martha was happy to see him. She accepted his invitation to lunch, and they talked for hours. By the end of the conversation, he liked her even more but was far more worried about Adam than he had been before their conversation. Their lunch had started with light conversation but quickly turned to more serious concerns when Martha asked about Adam.

"Martha, I have to ask you. Why do you ask so many questions about Adam? As far as I know, you don't know him and haven't even met him? Yet whenever we're together, you ask about him usually more than once."

Looking down for a moment, it was obvious that Martha was embarrassed but raised her head and looked straight at Joe. "I know I've been too bold and too intrusive. It's because of my sister. You see, when she came to live with us, she was so quiet at first and it was only slowly that she told us about how Bill came to be in prison here. She told us how Adam wouldn't let things lie and kept it all stirred up until Bill was proven to be a murderer. However she said he went to prison because he convinced the jury he never meant to kill Toby and had fired to scare him off. He was quite good at explaining things, I guess, so he got a twenty to life sentence instead of hanging. She spent all of her time thinking about the day he would get out."

"Wait a minute, you're married?"

"I was married. When Mary came to live with me, I had a husband. He was quite a bit older than me. He was a kind man and I cared for him quite a lot. He died about a year ago leaving me financially secure but alone except for Mary. There was a problem though. Mary was getting more and more unsettled. She thought almost everyone was against her. I took her to doctors but they said she was no danger to anyone and aware of how to care for herself and so on. They said there was nothing that could be done for her."

"What did you do?"

"I did what I could for her. She started to become worried about everyone so I got her everything she needed so she never needed to leave the house. When my husband died, she thought someone had killed him and was even more afraid. It was then that she started to say that Adam was trying to get his revenge on her and on Bill. She said neither of them were safe from him because he was so dangerous. She told these stories of people he had killed. When I did some research, I found there was some truth in what she said. I didn't know what to believe."

"Adam never killed anyone except to defend himself or others."

"I believe that now. I've talked to a lot of people in town. But one thing makes me wonder."

"What's that?"

"Well, if he didn't have Bill killed and then brought back here for burial, who arranged that?"

"That wasn't you?"

"No, I detested the man. I thought he was sleazy. It made my skin crawl just to hear him speak. I never saw in him what Mary did. They could have left him for the coyotes as far as I was concerned."

"What about Mary?"

"Well, there was a will that said it was her wish to be buried with Bill. The undertaker said he had been paid from some account that I didn't know about. That surprised me. I would have had her buried in our plot. I certainly wouldn't have spent all that money on embalming to ship her here and bury her next to Bill. I have enough money to live reasonably well but not to waste on unnecessary frivolities."

"So, you came here only to see Mary buried."

"Well, I did wonder about Adam and if those stories she told were true. Now I know they weren't and that she was far more ill than I knew. I can forgive her more easily now for what she did knowing she wasn't in her right mind. She didn't really know what she was doing."

"Will you be leaving then?"

"I bought a ticket to travel home in two days. I would like to stay longer because I do like this town, but I can't afford the cost of staying in a hotel. It was something I thought I could do for Mary, but now that's done. I would like it if you would come see me if you're ever in my town."

"I'll do that, Martha. We make trips to California rather regularly, and I'm going to be volunteering to take more of those."

After Joe walked her back to the hotel, he rode home thinking about all that he had learned. Ben wanted to know what he had learned and if he thought she had been honest.

"Pa, she's the best liar I ever met in my life or she told the truth about everything. She had tears in her eyes at times when she talked about Mary. Her cheeks got red when she had to admit something that embarrassed her."

"So, she isn't part of this but what she told you confirms that there is an unseen hand behind some of that has happened."

"But whoever that is wanted us to think she was involved and clouded the waters with this whole thing."

"You think it's something unrelated?"

Nodding, Joe pulled the envelope from Don Luis from his pocket. "Read this and see what you think."

A few minutes later, Ben looked up from the papers Don Luis had sent. "Bob did ask for a letter of recommendation, but there's a letter here from us requesting that he bring one when he comes here to work. It looks like we asked him to come work for us."

"It's the other letters that are the most interesting. They found one of Don Luis' horses and a dead man. They assumed the horse was stolen, but Don Luis says that is the horse that Bob bought from him and rode when he left. Yet our Bob arrived on the stage and bought a horse at the livery here saying he wasn't a cowhand so he didn't ride much. Don Luis says that Bob was an important part of his operation and he wondered at us luring him away but thought it was a good career opportunity for Bob."

"We need to find out if Don Luis can identify that dead man. Joe, can you send a wire tomorrow? I know that by now it might be too late, but we need to try."

The next morning, Joe rode to town to send that wire, but when he got home, Ben was saddling up to ride out. There were several hands also preparing to ride. Joe wanted to know what was going on.

"Hoss came back alone. He and Adam were working on the southeast line shack. He went to get water and grass for the horses. Adam was working on the shack. He said he could hear him singing and then heard him swear. Thinking he had done something wrong, he walked back to help but got hit in the head as soon as he went to the corral with the bucket of water and the grass. When he woke up, Adam was gone."

"Gone?"

"Someone took him, Joe. Whoever is behind this just got impatient and took him. We're heading there now to track them."

Very quietly, Joe asked a question. "Is Bob still here?"

About to blurt out the answer, Ben realized Joe might be working on a plan. He answered as quietly as Joe had asked. "Yes, he's getting extra horses from the corral."

"I'll go with you, but then I'm going to watch the house and follow Bob. I think we'll end up in the same place, but we'll see who gets there first."

"Take someone with you."

"I can do this by myself."

"I know, but you can send someone to let us know."

"Good idea."

"Let's send someone to town to alert Roy too so he can watch for anything unusual."

Only nodding, Ben knew that he had been too upset to be thinking clearly. Having Joe there was helping as his youngest was clearly thinking of ways to try to outwit their nemesis instead of simply trying to catch up to him. Hoss was soon there with a thick bandage wrapped around his head insisting he could help. Ben said he would hold them up so Joe asked if he could go tell Roy what had happened and then stay in town to watch for anything unusual.

"Take the carriage. It will give you a good place to watch what's going on without everyone seeing you. You can park it off to the side somewhere."

Appreciating how Joe was being considerate of Hoss' feelings in the midst of a crisis, Ben was anxious to get going too. He mounted up and urged the others to hurry too. Soon they were all riding out and Bob came over to Hoss to ask how he could help. After hitching up the carriage for Hoss and watching him leave, Bob saddled his horse and rode off toward Carson City. That surprised Joe at first but then he realized it made the most sense. He sent the man who was with him in pursuit of his father and the others to tell them where he was going. Then he continued in pursuit of Bob who was quite obviously a skilled rider.

In a rented house in Carson City, a tall older man watched as an unconscious Adam was secured to a metal table. He remembered the first time he had seen this man who had been only a boy of five at the time. In the town stable in Illinois, the boy had walked up to a large horse and patted it on the nose.

"Pa says we're going to keep going west. He says we'll know we got there when we see tall trees that touch the sky. He said there are mountains that are even higher and go right up to heaven. I see big trees here but he said the trees we're looking for are lots bigger than those. You're pretty big too. I was thinking. If I give you these apples that Inger gave to me, when we get to the tall trees and the big mountains, could you give me a ride to the top of those mountains so I could go see my mama?"

At one point, he had actually thought perhaps he could get rid of the boy's father and use the boy to entice Inger to be his. Instead, Ben Cartwright had fought him and taken Inger away with him. His standing in the town had dropped to nothing because no one was afraid of him after that. Forced to move on, he had lost it all. Several times he had done what he could to try to rebuild his fortune but it had been in California draining the pockets of miners that he had found a way to be wealthy once more. Isolated in a small town, he lived well and away from the authorities who might question his past and the wanted posters that were likely still in circulation. His present activities couldn't bear much close scrutiny either.

Then the one thing that gave him pride, his son, had died. If he had lived in San Francisco or another large city, the doctors might have been able to save him. In a small backwater town, he never had a chance. It had made him angry and he needed a way to vent that anger. His wife had made a friend in town and they talked often. It was serendipity that one day she mentioned a story the woman had told of her sick sister and her hatred of Adam Cartwright. With a few questions, he soon had the tale and with only a little investigation, he had all that he needed to know. There was a friend of Ben nearby and McWhorter sought him out. Don Luis was more than willing to talk about his friends, the Cartwrights. McWhorter had found Ben Cartwright after all these years, and he wasn't far away. That was when he began to scheme blaming Ben for his loss of wealth and status and thus the death of his beloved son. It was going to be an eye for an eye justice for Ben before he killed him.

Inger, My Love on Bonanza: The story relates the first meeting between Ben and Inger (the mother of Hoss) in Illinois as Ben and a young Adam were traveling west, and Ben wins Inger away from the powerful town boss McWhorter.

Chapter 5

Waking up slowly, Adam's first sensation was from his pounding headache. The second was from the cold metal table underneath him. He was chilled and realized he was naked and covered only by a sheet as he lay on a metal table or rather as he was bound by straps to a metal table. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was in what appeared to be a kitchen except it was devoid of many of the usual things found in a kitchen. The windows were covered instead of letting in the light which would be the case in the kitchens of most houses. He attempted to twist his head to look around but leather wedges held his head in place not allowing that movement.

"Well, you're finally waking up. I was thinking I would get to work while you were still unconscious, but I preferred you to be awake. I wanted to let your father know you were awake while it happened."

The voice was vaguely familiar, and when the man stepped into view and leaned toward him, he was vaguely familiar too. With his mind still foggy from the drugs that had been administered, he wasn't able to summon the memory to identify the man but knew he should know him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your worst nightmare. My son died because of your father. If not for Ben Cartwright, my son would have had access to decent medical care. He would have lived. Instead, he died. He was the only decent thing I had left in this life and your father took him from me. Then I had to watch as they drained the blood from him and pumped him full of these vile chemicals. It was all I could do to preserve him, what was left of him. My last view of him was him resting in his casket before the cover was lowered and he was put into the earth. I'll never see him again."

"How could my father have done anything to cause that? He would never deny anyone the care they needed."

Almost screaming, McWhorter leaned over Adam to give his answer. "He ruined my life. He took Inger from me. He beat me. He took away my respect."

That was when Adam remembered. "McWhorter. You're McWhorter. He didn't take Inger from you. She chose him. She wanted to leave with my father."

Pulling the sheet from Adam, McWhorter moved to the counter and returned with some thick tubes and needles. "Do you see these? These will drain the blood from you. I'll stick one in each leg and drain the blood into these bottles. Oh, you can't see the bottles. Let me show you." Bending down, McWhorter picked up a large glass jar with a metal cover that had a small hole in it. "See, the tube goes right in here. I stick the tube in here, and then I stick the sharp end into a vein in your leg. The blood will start to drain out of you. I'm going to do it slowly and as enough flows out, I'm going to start putting the chemicals in you. You'll feel the beginning of your own embalming. See those gallons of orange liquid on the counter. That's what I'm going to use. It cost a lot of money. I'll be sure to describe it fully to your father in a note I leave for him to read. He's going to find you looking so alive, but you'll be so dead laying in a casket that I have in the other room. I won't kill him right away. I'll let him suffer for a while, and then when he's suffered enough at the loss, then I'll kill him."

"You're insane!"

"No, I'm angry. I'm avenging all that was done to me."

"You made your life."

"No, Ben Cartwright made my life. He took away what I really wanted."

"She wasn't a what. She was a who. It's because of that kind of attitude that you lost her not because of what my father did. He treated her as a woman not an object to be possessed."

"Shut up. She was mine until he showed up."

McWhorter bent down then and Adam feared what that meant. When he stood, Adam's fear was realized as he had the needle with tube attached in his hand. He moved to Adam's thigh and pressed the inner area looking apparently for the proper place to insert the needle. He missed on his first two tries not finding what he wanted. On his third try, he got the blood flowing in the tube and dripping into the glass jar down below. Adam was grimacing in pain from the three wounds but worried too about what was happening to him. He had no idea if his family was anywhere near but could only pray that they were. McWhorter took more time with the second leg and needed only two tries to get the blood flowing.

"There, now it shouldn't take more than an hour or two for you to drain out, don't you think?"

The man laughed then as if he was having fun. Without stopping the laughing, he pulled a large piece of cloth that had been covering some apparatus on a separate table. The laughter became almost maniacal when he saw Adam's expression on seeing the embalming pumps. He moved one of the jars of embalming fluid to that table and began preparing the pumps for embalming. The smell of formaldehyde was strong. Watching McWhorter work was mesmerizing and Adam couldn't tear his eyes away from the preparations the man was making. Watching someone prepare to murder him was surreal, and for a moment, he wondered if he was hallucinating. It seemed too bizarre to be real.

While that happened inside, Joe had followed Bob to the house where McWhorter had told him to take Adam's horse to the livery stable. Joe followed him there and took him into custody and over to the sheriff's office. Bob proclaimed his innocence of any wrongdoing except he had of course been in possession of Adam's horse. That meant he was locked up for horse stealing, and he knew when Adam was found dead, he was going to be in far worse trouble. There was only one recourse for him. He began to talk. What he told them was so weird that they couldn't quite understand it at first, but when they did, Joe and the sheriff ran for their horses and took off for the rented house at a gallop. Ben and the men with him were riding into town and Joe waved to them to follow.

When they arrived at the house, they broke in the front door and were shocked to see an empty casket sitting in the center of the parlor. The smell of chemicals was strong and led them to head to that. When they entered the kitchen, a scene of horror greeted them. A naked Adam was bound to a metal table with two tubes leading from his bloodstained thighs to jars on the floor that were partially filled with blood. McWhorter held a sharp needle to Adam's neck. The needle was connected to a tube fastened to a pump filled with an orange liquid.

"Stop there or I push this into his neck."

"McWhorter!"

"So, you remember me."

"Why are you doing this to Adam?"

"Pa, we don't have time for this. Drop the needle and get away from my brother." Joe pointed his pistol at McWhorter's head.

"You won't shoot. Your brother's life is in my hands."

"Get away now or I shoot."

"Joe, he'll kill Adam."

"Pa, we don't have time. Get away from him or I shoot."

McWhorter grinned as his hand tightened on the needle. Joe shot him in the head making a terrible mess. Then he rushed to Adam as did Ben and the sheriff. Joe pulled one of the needles from Adam's thigh as Ben realized what had to be done and pulled the other. Both of them used their hands to put pressure on the wounds to try to stop the bleeding. Adam was barely conscious but seemed aware they were there. Ben asked the sheriff to get a doctor as he asked his men to cut the straps binding his son. Once that was done, he asked them to find blankets or anything else to cover him to warm him. They found towels to slide under him and blankets to lay over him. They pulled the leather wedges away from his head and slid a small pillow under his head.

Many hours later, Adam was resting comfortably in a hotel bed with thick bandages around both thighs. Cups of warm broth and lots of tea were in his future, and his father and Joe were there to make sure he followed that prescription. The doctor had told them that he faced at least six weeks of recuperation because of the blood loss, but that if he avoided infection and rested, there should be no complications. While the doctor had cared for Adam, Ben had filled Joe in on what had happened with McWhorter in Illinois. Why he had attacked Adam though was a mystery to them although Adam had said he knew. However, the doctor had said he would have to wait to explain. McWhorter was dead, and Bob had identified the men who had helped McWhorter so they were all in jail. With that accomplished, the sheriff said it would be fine to wait until the next day to hear what Adam had to say. When he finally woke the next morning and told them what McWhorter had said to him, they were astonished but it fit with what they had found at the house.

"I said he was insane. He said he wasn't, but I think the death of his son pushed him over the edge."

Adam's voice was weak so Ben didn't want to push him into too much conversation. He let the comment stand without responding. Adam smiled gently realizing that his father was going to be protecting him if not coddling him for a while. At the moment, he rather liked the idea as he didn't feel capable of doing much for himself. Later in the day, Hoss arrived with the carriage. When Ben suggested they all spend another night or two in Carson City before attempting the trip home, Hoss was pleased. Adam told him he could share his room because Joe was sharing with their father.

"My snoring ain't gonna bother ya?"

"I'm sleeping so well nothing will bother me. Well at least for the next few days, nothing will bother me. I can barely stay awake so sleeping isn't an issue."

"Hey, Adam, think that someday you can turn this into a funny story?"

"I can try, but you realize the hero of the story will be Joe."

"I know. Maybe you shouldn't. He could get too big a head."

"Hey, it's about time one of the stories is about me."

Ben settled in a chair and relaxed hearing his sons banter even if one was weak and another was still feeling the effects of a head injury. Not much could keep them down for long when they were together. It didn't take long for Adam even in his weakened condition to get them laughing too.

"There once was a young man fast with a gun named Joe

Whose brother Adam was drugged up, tied down, and laid low.

While biggest brother nursed a sore head,

And father many fine words he had said,

Joe blew the crazy man's head up like a rotten tomato."


End file.
